Endings
by Zoe Milex
Summary: There were many deaths that night. But for Dennis, only one of them mattered. Rated T for character death.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything :'(

Dennis had joined the battle about halfway through.

It had taken some time to gather up the courage to fight, and then even more was wasted trying to escape the teachers. But he had finally gotten back into the castle, and had taken to stunning anyone who he didn't recognize, which turned out to be a frighteningly large number.

The boy eventually found himself outside of the castle. He decided he liked fighting out in the open better, so he stayed by the doors, stunning Death Eaters when they tried to exit the building. When no Death Eaters were available, he took to searching for his brother. Colin had snuck away the second they were out of the great hall. Dennis had tried to stop him, saying it was too dangerous, and Colin had gotten mad and said, 'you're in Gryffindor Den! Are you really telling me that you don't feel the urge to fight?' Dennis had backed down, stunned by his brother's angry tone.

Dennis thought back to that moment, and then pushed his mind back further, to his first day at Hogwarts. He had practically begged to be placed into Gryffindor, and the hat grudgingly obliged. Dennis now wished he had allowed himself to be sorted into Hufflepuff. He sighed bitterly. His brother was right; he _didn't_ feel the urge to fight. He wasn't a Gryffindor. He was just… Dennis.

The youngest fighter was drawn out of his reverie by and explosion over his head. He spun, eyes wide and breathing hard. In front of him, the Death Eater grinned cruelly.

"Shouldn't let your guard down boy." He hissed. "Crucio!"

"Protego Horribilis!" Dennis yelped, almost instinctively. The shield appeared only long enough to absorb the unforgivable before flickering out of existence.

The Death Eater frowned. "So you can fight." He muttered.

Dennis didn't respond. He tried to remember practicing with Harry. He flicked his wand and a jet of red light appeared. Rookwood, for it was Rookwood, was surprised, but only for a moment.

"Protego!" Dennis's disarming charm ratcheted off the shield and back towards him, ripping his wand from his grasp before he could react.

Dennis blinked, slowly processing this latest turn of events. He suddenly realized that he was going to die. There was no way he would survive, he wasn't good enough to be able to defend himself…

He hadn't even realized he was running until he heard the angry shouts and had to stop to see who it was.

Percy Weasley was running towards the large Death Eater, his wand brandished, and Dennis felt his knees go weak with relief. Could he make it through this night on luck alone?

His question was answered moments later: _probably not_. Dennis shrieked when the first wave of spiders appeared. He barely darted out of the way in time.

He heard other screams around him, then Harry's voice raised over the others.

"HAGRID, NO! HAGRID, COME BACK! HAGRID!"

Dennis tried to reach the boy-who-lived, nervously shouting his name. "Harry!"

"HAGRID!"

Dennis winced as Harry shouted into his ear as he raced out of the doors, effectively driving the wind out of Dennis as he was thrust back a few feet.

Dennis rubbed his midsection where he had been shoved. Ron and Hermione suddenly appeared out of thin air, causing Dennis to jump.

"Did Harry follow them?" Hermione demanded.

Dennis nodded, pointing outside. Ron and Hermione raced out after their friend, leaving Dennis standing at the top of the steps, painfully confused and still having trouble breathing. He quietly tottered outside, hoping to find a place to watch the events, but not be involved. Of course, there was no such place.

A killing curse skimmed inches from his head, making him squeak and spin. He saw two witches dueling viciously. One he recognized from the wanted posters: Bellatrix Lestrange. The other he knew was an order member. Tock? Something like that. He watched as Bellatrix slipped a curse through the younger witch's guard, and the green haired woman fell silently. Dennis attempted to muffle his sob, but clearly didn't do it well enough, for Bellatrix turned to him. She sniffed. "Well aren't you a cutie?" She said wildly. Dennis couldn't meet her eyes for longer than a second before looking away, repulsed.

He heard Bellatrix take in the breath needed to say the curse. _This is it._ Dennis thought. _I'm going to die tonight._ He thought about his parents. He wished he could have told them he loved them one last time. He thought of Colin. He now started to cry openly. What would he do without his brother?

Through his tear stained world, he heard Bellatrix shriek the words, saw the jet of green light… but nothing happened. He blinked trying to clear his vision.

Bellatrix was laughing. "Oh how pathetic! Is he your brother? That's adorable! To bad you're going to die anyway." Voldemort's best lieutenant cackled.

That was when Dennis saw the limp form of Colin Creevey in front of him. What happened came together in an instant. Colin had jumped in front of him. Colin had saved him. Now Colin was dead because of him.

Instead of crying, these thoughts made Dennis mad. They made him furious, actually. He grabbed the wand from his dead brother's hand and leveled it at the offending witch. But before either could strike the other, a high, cold voice echoed across the grounds.

"You have fought," said the voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Bellatrix looked torn, but she eventually stowed her wand away in her robes and hurried towards the forest to find her master.

"So you do everything you're master tells you huh? You're like a puppy. A weak, pathetic puppy that needs someone else to take care of it" Dennis hissed after her, half-hoping she would hear, and half-hoping she wouldn't.

She apparently didn't as she didn't spin around and curse him into oblivion.

Once her slim figure had vanished into the shadows of the trees, Dennis allowed himself to collapse onto the motionless form of his brother and cry like there was no tomorrow. Because for Dennis, that's how it felt.

**A/N: So this is my first real fanfiction, so please tell me what you think! Do you like it? Do I need to fix something? Short reviews are great but if you HATE it, please tell me why! Thanks,**

**ZoeM**


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